Enough said!

Homeward bound. Not our best trip to London, but we still did many things that were enjoyable and had many wonderful meals. Fish & chips are the stereotypical British meal and I had that once. My favorite British meal is pretty much bangers and mash, or sausage & mashed potatoes with peas. Our last supper here was at the Spaghetti House near our hotel. I’ve had Italian in many places, but overall, Spaghetti House is the best Italian I’ve ever had. Maybe next time we need to go to Italy and see if they can best Spaghetti House.

I’m still a major fan of pub grub. All the bangers and mash eaten this trip was in pubs. If you know me, you know I will not drink beer in the US. Nina sees no difference in the beers here and in the US, but I can’t stomach the US beers. I believe it’s the pasteurization process which makes it undrinkable for me. Boiling beer should be illegal.

Anyway, by the time most of you read this, we will be airborne. We arrive in the US around 7:30 and Albuquerque just after 10 pm.

Peace.

• What I thought would be a magical visit to one of my favorite cities turned out to be a turd in disguise. I knew that most things would be closed down, and I was not disappointed at that.
• Today however, all the shit that was closed yesterday is also closed today. At least it was @ 8:30 when I was hunting for coffee for Nina and I. Found a place finally, but I hiked a bit to find it.
• You’d think we’d be dining at the hotel for breakfast, but after they screwed the pooch with our meal reservations online, I’d rather pick through McDonald’s garbage and eat a half eaten McMuffin than give this place another penny.
• We leave here tomorrow and quite honestly, I can’t wait to get home. I guess there’s a first time for everything.
• Home is where the Harley heart is, right? (Nina made me change it! I swear!)
• I’m looking forward to seeing my little girl again too. I saw her on FaceTime on Christmas morning and realized I miss her.
• Today we tourist. I know tourist is not a verb, but it works for me. We are heading to Oxford Str. so Nina can do her shopping for the kids and I assume herself. There is nothing for me on Oxford, nothing. While much of London is closed, Oxford street will be open for SALES. (enough emphasis Nina?) Oh well, it’s her vacation too.
• Peace

https://youtu.be/F66yoUEbsJM

Well, we did a lot of walking today. Mostly because we were lost and didn’t care where we were. Froze my ass off here today. I was doing the layers thing, and it failed miserably. We did see St. Paul’s Cathedral and had a lovely walk through it. See pictures below.

Well, it appears that I won’t be seeing Martin & Sylvia this trip, damned trains are shut down on Monday too. Boxing Day. Not sure what that means, but I’m sure someone will give me a clue on Monday. I find it hard to believe that a city the size and importance of London can shut down for 2 days like that. Did I say city? The whole freaking country shuts down!

I wasn’t gonna post that last pic because I just took it to send to someone in Canada, but it’s there, so it stays.

Peace!

And the trip continues. Today we’re probably doing the Stables Market. Nina loves to shop. Me, not so much. Stables is a market that is located in an old stable building. Since London is a huge city, the stable is also huge. Overall, if I have to go shopping, this place ain’t too bad.

Me doing something you’ve probably never seen me do, drinking beer!

It’s not often I post  pictures of me here, usually because I’m behind the camera, but these are from a professional photog.

Nina & I. Proof of life for all you doubters that she’s still alive!

Just me.

Tom Johnson, good friend, great rider.

While yesterday was actually day 1, it was a lost day due to travel and exhaustion. Too bad we haven’t invented Star Trek like teleportation yet.

No major flaws in the trip. We arrived at Heathrow ahead of schedule and went through the usual immigration line in just under an hour. Our luggage was waiting for us at the baggage claim area. Our Tube cards still had money on them, enough to get us into central London and beyond. We had to change trains once, but that was no issue, is was on the same line.

Our hotel was panned on Trip Advisor the day before we left. Did I say panned, it was savaged. That caused us a bit of concern, but upon checking in we found a beautiful room with great amenities. We are in the Covent Garden area, a prime London location. We did dinner last night at a pub in Covent and had the fish and chips. Very well prepared. I also had a beer. Damn, I love the beers here.

I know I need to get a sim card for our spare phone for data. I’m using data like crazy and AT&T rapes you on foreign travels. I have a place that I like to go for my sim cards. It’s a tourist trap type of card shop, but they have killer prices on sim cards.

We are staying at the Kingsway Hall on Great Queen Street. While a bit pricey, you can’t get more in the heart of London if you tried.

More later, with pictures of course! Peace all.